Learning Organization - A Lasting Concept

E.Timm, N.Honecker, J.Gund R. Sell E.A.Hartmann Works MA&T: Mensch, Arbeit Department of Computer Mannheim und Technik Science in Mechanical WindeckstraBe 90 KrantzstraBe 7 Engineering (HDZIIMA) 68163 Mannheim, 52070 Aachen, Germany University of Technology Germany +49-241-968840 Aachen (RWTH) +49-621-829-0 [email protected] DennewartstraBe 27 gundjuergenH@r2 52068 Aachen, Germany mannheim.deere.com +49-241-96660 [email protected]­ aachen. de

Thus, the integration of learning and regular work will be ABSTRACT: more and more important. The borders between those two Today there exists an evident need to view an enterprise areas will be less strict than up to now, in most countries. as a learning system whose adaptive capabilities have to be Learning will be integrated within the working increased for the joint and participative development of environment, and the working' environment will influence organization and technology. As an example of individual learning. Normal work or daily practice will implementing the concepts of a Learning Organization into become the 'centre of learning processes. In order to remain practice, experiences at John Deere Works Mannheim will competitive, the necessity of re-Iearning as well as be described. The company has started to implement a continuous lifelong learning will be the norm - based, project that intends to integrate lasting concepts of a however, on a thorough basis of initial education and Learning Organization. Strategy and expectancies of the training. These aspects need to be taken into account in all project are described in this report. processes of designing production processes today.

Keywords: This need of being flexible and competitive is supported Learning Organization, Participatory Design, by the introduction of new models of work organization, Organizational Development e.g. team work, self-organised groups, Learning Teams, INTRODUCTION: and other strategies. Creation of knowledge is nothing but In nearly every part of society today, a dynamic change of a shift from implicit to explicit learning. Groups, for structures and processes can be observed. Reality today is example, are a suitable form for spreading knowledge and characterised by complexity. Global development and making problem-solving abilities transparent. Everyone in internationalization of markets are linked to the increasing the group is an expert and can give his/ her knowledge to use of information and communication technologies. With the process of complex problem-solving. Thus. the group such decentralization of economic structures, work can function as a link between individual and conditions change. In industry, traditional (staff-) organizationalleaming. structures are changing. Less hierachical, team-oriented structures are being implemented. These changes in Organizational learning occurs as one aspect of run~ing an society and industry have impact on working and learning: enterprise, whether this is intended or not. To make these learning has to be integrated with reality of work in order learning processes more efficient and goal-oriented, to correspond to today's complex social interactions. Such however, they have to be designed deliberately. learning processes have to include technology, people, and Organizational learning transcends individual learning, as organization. it focuses on organizational change. The basis of these In PDC 98 Proceedings ofthe Participatory DeSign change processes are nevertheless individuals, their Conference. R. Chatfield, S. Kuhn, M. Muller (Eds.) subjective beliefs and actions. If organizational learning is Seattle, WA USA, 12-14 November 1998. CPSR, meant as a concept to affect all business and work P.O. Box 717, Palo Alto, CA 94302 [email protected] 239 processes within the organization, on all hierarchical ISBN 0-9667818-0-5. levels, in all departments and especially between them, reorganization, including outsouring of some participation becomes a critical issue. In this report, the production processes, has created a need for re­ fundamental aspects of such a Learning Organization are qualification of workers to be able to work within 'core­ briefly described. They are applied to the case study of competency' areas. The educational concept of John Deere Works Mannheim, as an enterprise which 'learning islands' relies on 'real-world' work processes recently decided to change over to the Learning and the concept of 'complete tasks', known from Organization concept. Some results of this change process German work psychology (Hacker, 1986). This means are reported. that learners will produce a complete product - for example, in the "Assembly Learning Island" they will as a group assemble a complete - including all planning, quality assurance, and organizational tasks THE CASE OF JOHN DEERE PLANT MANN HElM (JDWM), GERMANY together with the 'direct' operational tasks. This learning process is guided and supported by The company professionals in vocational education I. The JDWM produce (mostly agricultural) with 4 • Qualification for participation for all workers. As a part or 6 cylinders engines ranging from 75 to 130 HP (55-96 of the indroduction program for group work, all group kW); this is the ,,6000-Series" in John Deere's tractor members attend a 2-day workshop where they learn programme. The annual production output is 28,000 methods of communication and problem solving in tractors approximately. JDWM employ about 2,200 groups. people. The Mannheim Plant has one of the longest and • Training of team leadership skills. In each group, at richest histories in farm-machinery production in Europe. least one - usually between two and four - members of The Heinrich Lanz Company, founded in 1859, produced the group take part in additional workshops to learn the first steam-powered stationary threshing machines in how to facilitate problem solving in groups. 1879 and the first crude-oil-fuelled tractor - the famous • Appointing and training of team consultants ('process "Bulldog" - in 1921. In 1956, Heinrich Lanz AG merged attendants') from within the company. Their task as with Deere & Company, Moline, (USA). Today the professionals in organizational development is to Mannheim Plant is the largest and most important John support the groups and the facilitators in applying the Deere factory outside the USA. methods mentioned above. Furthermore they consult and coach all departments and hierarchy levels concerning new forms of work organization. They also Like many other organizations the John Deere Works monitor and support the general process of developing Mannheim (JDWM) is going through a reorganization group work and other new forms of work organization process. Aspects of this process are: within the company. - segmentation of the factory in several "focus factories" : decentralizing production and service departments, - introduction of team work in all production lines, and So far, the following two main strategies have been put also in management and administration, into practice which concern learning of individuals and - reduction of hierachical levels going along with process teams: company-wide group work structures, and the oriented structures, Continuous Improvement Process. - outsourcing of departments.

These change processes have started on the level of Introducing Group Work individuals and teams. Subsequently, they have affected At present there are more than 1,500 employees of the the whole organizational structure as well as technology John Deere Works Mannheim working in teams. Different design and implementation in production and information processing. Being aware of the well-known problems of In Germany, skilled industrial workers (or junior the company renewal, the John Deere Plant Mannheim craftsmen) may attend an educational 2-3 year started several different activities in parallel: programme to achieve the qualification of a • Learning Teams (so called "Learning Islands") in 'Meister' (originally 'master' in the sense of 'master different production and assembly areas. These are craftsman'). This includes in-depth knowledge of learning environments which on the one hand, serve as their technical domain, workshop management, and a special module within the regular vocational vocational teaching qualification. The people education scheme for apprentices (cf. footnote 2), on running the learning islands at JDWM are 'Meisters' the other hand are used for further qualification or re­ with substantial teaching experience from their work qualification of employees. Especially the recent in the vocational education department of the plant.

240 types of team work - from partly autonomous groups to interests and different priorities between the two sides, but self-organized groups and Learning Teams - can be gives a common frame of reference. observed. The methods of group work are based on the concepts of the participatory approach related to CIP groups can be understood as temporary project groups improvement of work organization, production processes which are based on the concepts of team work. For one and technology with a special emphasis on qualification week a group, isolated from its regular working place, is for participation (Hartmann, 1998; Sell & Fuchs­ asked to solve a specific problem. The standardized use of Frohnhofen, 1993). problem-solving methods is necessary for a successful CIP: Once a week the employees come together in a group • employees have the same common knowledge (from meeting where they discuss production problems. The skilled workers to engineers and managers), employees have learnt to organise their group meetings by • employees speak the same company language, themselves, to solve problems on their own, and to • with the standardization of methods a basis for evalua­ cooperate in the teams and between teams of their own and tion processes is given. other departments. In these teams, learning processes are taking place on individual as well as on group level. In addition to solving existing problems, in CIP innovation can be achieved, and basic company concepts can be questioned. Learning processes take place on individual Introducing Continuous Improvement Processes (CIP) and group level as well as on intergroup level. In addition, The Continuous Improvement Process (CIP) as a project is learning processes can be observed on organizational level embedded in a programme of organizational renewal. The as there exists a cross-departmental composition of CIP main characteristics of CIP are: groups. • the activation of organizational knowledge and experience, The change processes described so far concern the • the translation of improvement options into action, individuals and teams as well as the organization of the • the reduction of wasting resources, company. Nevertheless the company is not really yet a • the optimization of working processes, and "Learning Organization" because the activities are isolated • the integrating and participation of all employees - they do not affect the overall views of the company. (multi-hierachical). Hence, the concept of the "Learning Organization" is discussed in the following paragraph. Within JDWM, 'improvement' is defined as any action oriented towards a set of goals, namely: • reducing costs • reducing (throughput) time CONCEPTS OF LEARNING • improving product quality • improving organizational flexibility Single-Loop, Double-Loop Learning, and Deutero • improving the quality of working life; humanization of Learning work In Learning Organizations people learn with and from each other. Their knowledge, experience and lifelong learning These goals have been agreed on by management and are prerequisites for a Learning Organization. works councif. This of course does not neglect different The model of organizational learning to be discussed here is based on the synthesis of various concepts of learning of 2 In Gennany, the works council is the elected individuals and organizations: representative body for all employees of a company. a) models of individual Experiential Learning as proposed Its functions, rights, and responsibilities are regulated by Kolb et al. (1984) based on the research of Piaget by federal law. In the metal industries, most or even and Lewin; all members of the works council are usually also b) the theory of Mental Models emerging from recent members of the Industrial Union of Metal Workers research in the field of cognition science (compare (IGM). Nevertheless, the works council is no trade Fuchs-Frohnhofen et aI., 1996); union organization; the trade unions have their own c) the work ofCyert & March (1963) and March & Olsen basic member organization within the companies in (1"975) considering organizations to be behavioral parallel.

241 systems which continuously try to learn and adapt to DLL. As opposed to SLL, the indivdual's experiences are their environment; not simply interpreted in the already existing frame of the d) Argyris & Schon's (1978) concept of Single-Loop mental models. This type of learning results in a change of (SLL) and Double-Loop Learning (DLL) on both the individual mental models which subsequently leads to a individual and the organizational level, and the fundamental change of individual learning and action. integrated model of organizational learning proposed by Kim (1993). On the organizational level the concept of mental models is repeated by introducing shared mental models. They Considering SLL and DLL (Argyris & SchOn, 1978) there describe the extent to which the different sets of individual are two different levels on which individual learning can mental models overlap. A fundamental change in the occur. On the one hand, there is individual SLL. It shows individual mental models results in change of the features of short-term learning corresponding to a given set corresponding mental models which then influence of assumptions of the individual. These assumptions are organizational action: DLL on the organizational level referred to as individual mental models. On the other hand, (Fig. 1). there is learning on a higher level referred to as individual

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Figure I :Leaming and Acting - Transformation Processes of Organizations from a Systemic Perspective (Lorscheider, 1997)

242 these internal experts and external consultants began to sketch an outline of the future project. Figure I shows the different transformation processes of individuals, teams and organization. These learning processes are characterized by integrating Learning and Thus, the intended project about integrating a lasting Acting. They are linked to the different mental models. If concept of a Learning Organization has been designed to these different mental models change with learning, take up the concept of an integrative qualification, learning can be called Double-Loop Learning (DLL). If integrating all levels of Single- and Double-Loop Learning the whole enterprise follows this model, it may be called a as well as Deutero Learning. The core of the project is the Learning Organization. ' sustainable integration of personal and organizational development which expresses itself in a reciprocal integration of work processes and change processes: The So far, the company JDWM has introduced aims are - company-wide team work structures and Learning - to make use of regular work processes for qualification Teams which are DLL for individuals and groups; (learning through the job), - the project of Continuous Improvement Processes to use the Learning Island concept for work-oriented which focusses on aspects of DLL on individual, team learning processes (learning near the job). 3 and organizational level. to create a network of Learning Islands within the factory, covering the whole Product Delivery Process, The next step is to introduce Organizational Learning for to integrate Continuous Improvement Processes within the whole company JDWM, as a DLL process on the Learning Islands organizational level. Even more, the intended project to design systematic ways of knowledge exchange and described below explicitly aims at redesigning the development between different departments within the company's learning processes themselves; this is an Product Delivery Process, instance of 'learning to learn' or, in terms of Argyris & to establish a 'feedback system', allowing workers in Schon (1978), 'Deutero Learning'. production groups as well as management to ·assess their own work with respect to learning processes and opportunities and to figure out, action plans to improve these learning processes and opportunities. INTEGRATING A LASTING CONCEPT OF A LEARNING ORGANIZATION All these aspects are to be understood as strategies of The main features of the intended project organizational development which trigger and shape Despite all measures of reorganization implemented business transformation. The project aims at the previously at the company JDWM, not all problems have improvement of continuous learning and innovation been solved. Especially the isolated activities in the activities through integrating them into the regular work different departments lead to weaknesses. On the one flow. Hence, project-activities will cover the whole hand, a general and common qualification for participation product development and production process (PDP). of all staff exist at JDWM. On the other hand, there is only little time for qualification and innovation during the regular work process. JDWM has tried to face this aspect by introducing its 'Learning Islands' concept but it is an isolated solution because only parts of the Product Delivery Process (PDP) are covered. An integrative There is a clear distinction between these two qualification concept along the whole PDP - from design concepts of work-related learning and the common to delivery to the customer - has been missing. notion of "learning on the job" as a - completetly unsufficient - substitute for systematic vocational education. In Germany, we have a tradition of These deficits were identified in the first place by the institutionalized vocational education, the so-called process attendants / team consultants together with other 'Dual System' combining public vocational schools people involved in work-related learning within the and a more or less standardized vocational education company. Their idea of a new project to overcome the inside the companies. Both the 'learning through the deficiencies gained support from senior management as job' and the 'learning near the job' concepts are to well as the works council (actually, one of the main supplement these established schemes of vocational 'driving forces' behind DILO is a member of the works education and to provide options for lifelong work­ council). A small 'design-group' consisting of some of related learning. Both approaches imply very explict standards and methods of education and learning.

243 According to the claims of a participatory process, assembly will gain advance knowledge about the new employees from al1 departments have been involved in product, enabling them to share this knowledge with developing project from the beginning of the planning. It their col1eagues and thus minimise problems in series is necessary to integrate their experiences, knowledge and start. On the other hand, they will use their experience expectations in such a programme at that early stage. from series assembly to help designing the new product Otherwise the concept would be far from reality, it would according to assembly requirements. not correspond to existing needs and claims.

The Learning Islands concept and the Continuous CONCLUSIONS Improvement Processes (CIP), implemented before, are The implementation of the new project about integrating a essential prerequisites for the successful implementation of concept of a Learning Organization has been the most the new project. Their contribution to the implementation fundamental change process to · be imagined for a of a lasting concept of a Learning Organization are the traditional European production company. It has given the learning processes on different levels of individual and company a very strong boost of renewal affecting al1 areas group learning. The concept of learning (Single- and and levels of the enterprise. It has only been possible Double-Loop) has, thus, been established in the company because of the previous innovations introduced at JDWM and mental models are shared as prerequisites for making with group work, the Learning Islands and the Continuous JDWM a Learning Organization. Improvement Processes. Today already, the outcomes of these innovations are clearly visible - together with the results of further organizational changes briefly mentioned in this report. These results have given the company strong Integration of a lasting concept of a Learning Organization economic advantages in the world market: e.g. one-third The integration of the new project was started through a less costs per tractor produced, etc. In overall economic five-day-workshop attended by 55 workers and clerical terms, the company is among the leading companies of employees. The four parallel sessions of this workshop John Deere world-wide. were facilitated by pairs of internal and external facilitators. The task of the workshop for the participants On the other hand, there are serious risks for the imple­ was to work out the implementation strategy of the mentation of the project described above. There will al­ integration of a lasting concept of a Learning Organization ways be conflicts between the demands of individual and at the JDWM. Their results were presented in a meeting organizational learning on the one hand, and the restric­ attended by about 100 people from JDWM, including tions and pressures set by work and business processes in a management and works council, who approved these highly competitive environment, on the other hand. The results and the suggested ways of implementation. promotors of this new project will have to handle these conflicts and to gain continuous support from all groups The outcome of this first workshop has been substantial. A and institutions within the company. To find out if and series of fundamental innovations have been suggested under which conditions this is possible will be a major which are presently being implemented, step-by-step. aspect of the intended project. Some are as follows - the opening of Learning Islands for all members of the organization; - the use of Learning Islands for qualification and Continuous Improvement Processes with the focus on products, production processes and technology, thus generating integrated 'Learning and Innovation Islands'; - the design of a trainee programme on certain production processes tailored for e.g. workers from other production areas, engineers, etc.; the integration of a group of workers from series assembly into the design and prototype building activi­ ties for new products. For every product development project, a different group of these workers will join the prototype building department. This will enhance lear­ ning effects in two directions: The workers from series

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